Float.



No. 787,504. PATENTED APR.18, 1905. P. & 11. ENGBLHARD.

FLOAT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED APR. 18, 1905.

F. & FQH. ENGBLHARD.

FLOAT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2a. 1903.

2 sanms-snnm 2.

ammufow UNITED STATES A Patented April 18, 1905.

j PATENT OFFICE.

FLOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,504., dated April 18, 1905.

Application filed June 29, 1903. Serial No. 163,460.

and FREDERICK H. ENGELHARD, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have in-.

vented a new and useful Float, of which the following is a specification.

Our'invention relates to improvements in floats for valves in which sheet-copper sections are joined and reinforced by certain peculiar means, as hereinafter described. Heretofore it has been customary to make floatballs, column-floats, and the like, which are generally designated hereinafter by the'common term float, in sections that are semispherical or otherwise, according to the style or kind of float, and to connect said sections by various kinds of joints, which have often been expensive to construct and proven weak and unsatisfactory. Various ineffectual and inadequate devices have also been employed to reinforce floats for the purpose of strengthening them.

Our invention provides for a float construction which possesses the necessary advantages and is free from the objections noted.

The object of our improvement is to produce aseamless float which is light and durable and of such strength as to resist the pressure or heat to which it is likely to be subjected without collapsing or having the efliciency of its joint impaired.

. A further object of our invention is to provide adequate reinforcement for a float at its weakest portions. Our floats are also symmetrical and of a proper and uniform weight, such weight, however, being usually less than has heretofore been required, owing to the fact that we are able to use a very light material in the construction without sacrificing strength. IVe provide, too, for tight and secure nipple and pipe joints.

WVe attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view and partial section of a float-ball embodying our invention; Fig. 2, a side view of a column-float also embodyfor attaching the nipple thereto; Fig. 4, a bottom view of the same; and Fig. 5, a sectional view of a float-ball, showing means for forming joints between it and a pipe which extends therethrough.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Our float consists, essentially, of sections, generally two in number, having an internal ring soldered thereto adjacent the abutting edges thereof, an external band of metal deposited over and around the outside of the joint between the two sections, and plating material deposited upon the outside over all. In some cases additional bands of metal may be deposited around the outside in various directions. The sections are spun out of sheetcopper in the usual and well-known manner, and the ring and deposits are of the same metal.

Referring to Fig. 1, a ball-float is shown comprising the semispherical copper sections a a, having their edges abutting at 7). A copper ring 0 is soldered to the sections ainside, adjacent to, and above and below the edges which abut at Z). A copper band (Z is deposited on the sections a in a similar location as the ring 0, except that it is on the outside. A thin coating 0, of copper, is deposited all over the outside of the sections a and the band (Z. The ring 0 and the band d serve in the triple capacity of tightly binding the sections a together, of preventing collapsing at the joint, and of protecting the solder which holds the ring 0 in place, so that the joint thus formed becomes the strongest part of the float. Very thin metal for the sections a may be used with this means of connection, and the external plating or coating not only unites the parts into a homogeneous mass, as it were, but serves to even up inequalities in the outside surface and to bring the float up to the proper weight. The great heat to which the float is sometimes subjected may tend to loosen the solder which holds the ring 0 in place; but in this event no leakage at the joint or rupture of the same can occur owing to the presence of the band (Z and the external coating. Moreover, such band and coating serve to protect the solder from heat or to lessen its effect thereon. The ring and band may usually be of about the same thickness as the sections and will vary in width according to the size of the float and the strength required.

The column-float shown in Fig. 2 comprises two sections a, as before, except that their semispherical ends are continued to form cylindrical bodies, the joint between which is formed in precisely the same manner as already described. In addition to the central or connecting band (Z two other like bands may be deposited on this float at and around the junctions of the semispherical and cylindrical portions, which next to the place of joining are under ordinary circumstances the weakest parts of the device. The external coating 6 is deposited over all of the bands and the intervening portions of the sections.

The external surface of the ball-float may be provided with additional bands (Z when the nature of the case demands, such additional bands extending parallel with the one at the joint or in other directions. The exterior of the float shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is divided into two parts by the band around the joint, and each half so formed is halved by additional bands. The band or hands cl are applied after coating the float to the proper depth with wax or other suitable substance and leaving a strip or strips of the proper width around the abutting edges of the sections and elsewhere, if needed, clear, the copper being deposited by electroplating in the channel or channels thus formed. The wax must of course be removed beforethe final plating or coating is applied.

A nipple f may be connected with the float in the usual manner-that is, with its flangeg on the inside of one of the sections, or the flange may be located upon the outside of the section and held in position by the coating 6, which surrounds and covers the same,as shown in Figs. 3 and i. By this last arrangement and construction an absolutely tight joint between the float and nipple is formed and a convenient means of attachment provided. In the present construction the auxiliary bands cZ assist in holding the flange g in place; but this is not always necessary, as reliance may be placed solely on the coating 0.

It is to be understood that the joint between the sections in each of the floats shown in the drawings is in all essential particulars like the one described in detail.

Our improved construction aflords an efficient means of obtaining tight and secure joints between afloat and a pipe which extends through the same, such a pipe being shown at h in Fig. 5. The jointsz' c'around the pipe 72/ on opposite sides of the float are provided by thickening the deposit or coating 0 at these points.

The process by which the bands d are deposited on the sections a and the coating 0 on said sections and bands in all cases in reality incorporates the parts one with another, the copper which forms said bands entering the pores of the copper of which the sections consist and the copper deposit or coating entering the copper of both the bands and sections, all resulting in a seamless float of great strength and resistance. The bands and coating bind the parts firmly and securely together and absolutely prevent the opening of the joint, holding the same against a tendency to break apart on account of the expansion due to inside air-pressure and of the expansion of the inside ring.

Our invention is applicable to other shapes of floats besides those shown. Hence We do not wish-to be restricted in this respect, but seek to include any jointed sheet-metal float or similar device. Copper, however, is believed to be the only practical metal for the purposes of this invention.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a float having sections arranged with their edges abutting without extension or overlap, an ex ternal band deposited over and around the joint so formed, an additional external band or bands deposited upon said sections, each band intersecting another band, and a coating or deposit upon the outside of the sections and bands.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a float comprising sections semispherical and cylindrical in shape and arranged with their edges abutting without extension or overlap, an external band deposited over and around the joint so formed, and additional external bands deposited around the sections where the semispherical and cylindrical portions meet, and a coating or deposit upon the outside of the sections and bands.

3. The combination with a float having an exterior coating deposited thereon, of anipple held to the outside of said float by said coating.

4:. The combination with a float having external bands and an exterior coating deposited over all, of a flanged nipple held to said float by said bands and coating.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK ENGELHARD.

FREDERICK H. ENGELHARD. Witnesses:

W. A. ENGELHARD,

F. A. CUTTER.

ITO 

